You’re not going to find a better ESL classroom resource than English Rocks! 101 ESL Games, Activities, and Lesson Plans.

This book will help any teacher that’s struggling in an ESL classroom. And if you’re an old hand at teaching, well, I bet you can get a few new ideas as well. The book has 101 ideas, and each of them has its own page or stretches over multiple pages. In fact, there are 211 pages with this eBook and 271 pages with the print book. Yes, that’s right…English Rocks! is now available in print format! Both versions have 112 pictures to explain the ideas that are discussed, and you’ll pick up a lot just from looking at those. With over 35,000 words, this isn’t some dinky manual either. This is a real book, with real solutions to your classroom problems. It’s written in an easy-to-read style that won’t have you scratching your head wondering what’s being discussed. You can easily flip through the different lessons with the table of contents, so finding just the thing you need to get your class going now is no problem.

Real Solutions to Your ESL Problems

I taught English in China for 5 years. I’ve seen little 3-year olds who cry and cry and older teenagers who mope and mope. Most students don’t want to talk. You can try to make them, but that doesn’t work out well for you or them. It’s much better to make them want to talk. So how do you do that? You give them something they like. Give them games, give them activities, and give them excitement. When students are excited and having fun, speech naturally spills forth.

Public school classes in China are large

If you’re teaching ESL, games and activities are your best friends. These things don’t detract from learning, they add to it. All of the games and activities in English Rocks! have been tried and perfected by me in dozens of classes over the years. The last thing I want is a horrible lesson, and I’m not going to give that to you. Anyone who’s scrolled through the posts on this website knows that I provide quality. If you’ve taken advantage of the free downloads, you know they work. This book will give you the ideas, and this site will give you the files…FOR FREE!

The free files you get with this book

Those are all the free files you’ll get when you buy the book. There are 50…which is an incredible deal. Some of those, such as Deserted Island Adventure and Mountain Plane Crash Adventure, you’d have to pay for otherwise. They’re both free with the purchase of this book. Some of these games and activities are up on this site now for free. You can find the following articles from more than a year ago:

If you buy this book you’ll get all those ideas and more. Your students will love you and your time as an ESL teacher will finally be headache-free. So toss out that textbook and burn those boring grammar sheets and use something that works!

English Games are Key

My students loved playing games in my ESL classes and they’ll love playing game in yours when you try out some of the ideas in English Rocks! But when you want to get down to the nitty-gritty of English, there’ll be plenty of activities, warm-ups, and lesson plans to effectively target the vocabulary and grammar that you’re using in class on a daily basis.

ESL class in China in Winter (Notice coats? No heat in the South)

I’ve put my five years of teaching knowledge into this book, and my biggest hope is that it will help other teachers out there. The book’s got things that will really save you in class. I wish I had something like this when I started teaching – it would have saved me headaches! The good news is that you can now pull this book out right in class. It’s in print format, which means you can buy it and keep it in your bag. Of course you can bring it to class on your iPad, or even print out the PDF version if you get it on Smashwords. Hey, might as well get all the free use you can out of those school computers, right? The point is, use this book any way you can to keep your sanity. I know if you’re teaching ESL right now you know what I’m talking about. For all of you thinking about it or perhaps just waiting to do so, however, I want you to know that even a dozen kids yelling and shouting in class will wear on you after a time. Even when you’re having fun things get loud and just…well, it’s overwhelming at times. Books like this and other quality ESL teaching books will help you handle this. I wish you luck, but I know with English Rocks! you won’t need it. You can get this ESL eBook for any format you’d like:

I’ve been in a rather philosophical mood lately and I’m going to share that with you. Yep, I’ve got a new ESL book coming out here, oh…in another week or two, and it’ll be called Keeping Your Sanity: English Teaching Strategies for ESL Teachers. You may have noticed over the past month that many of my posts have been more about general teaching ideas as opposed to step-by-step instructions for lessons. We’re taking more of a ‘forest for the trees’ approach here, stepping back and looking at the big picture. Teaching English abroad is tough. The kids are talking in a language you don’t understand most of the time and lots of things you try don’t work. You’ve got a rigorous schedule and not a whole lot of support all the time. To top it all off you’re in a new country with new foods and new people and new places…you need to focus on your own needs as well. I talk about all of these things, these more abstract concepts that you don’t always think about in class but which are affecting you nonetheless. I’ve done more philosophical ESL books before, with English Last, Teaching Abroad, and Bilingual Teaching. This book will follow a similar vein, but it’ll be more blunt and edgy. I’m not going to waste your time and I’m going to tell you things straight up and without a lot of varnish. I think this is what you want, not some sugar-coated nonsense that won’t get to the root of your problems. What is the root of your problems as an ESL teacher? And more importantly, how do you solve them? Check out this book when it comes out. Sign-up for my mailing list to learn first or check back to the site in a week or so. Thanks for reading…and keep your sanity!

China is another country entirely, and many times almost like a foreign planet.

And teaching? Boy…that’s like nothing you’ve ever seen. I wrote a book explaining all of this last year. It’s called English Last: True Accounts of Teaching in China and you can buy it now on all the major eBook retailers. So what does the book say? Lots…lots and lots and lots. And much of what it says is controversial.

It’s my hope that this book will give you a clearer picture of what it’s like teaching in China.

If you’re looking for an eBook on teaching with the Center for Teaching and Learning in China (CTLC) then you’ll find it all here;

If you want to know about various English training centers in China then this has all of them, with very in-depth information on EF, or English First;

If you want to work in a kindergarten teaching very young children I’ll give you the rundown from my experiences, those of my wife, and many other people I knew;

If you’re interested in going it alone and working as a tutor you’ll get my knowledge and experience from five years of tutoring.

As anyone who reads this site regularly knows, I spent 5 years living and teaching in China. This book is my attempt to capture what a lot of the teaching was like. I go over all the training centers I’ve worked for, the CTLC program, EF China English First, Kindergartens, and Tutoring.

Below is the Table of Contents for English Last:

Picture of half a class

Introduction

Part I – Welcome to Teaching in China!

Be a Great ESL Teacher

Education or Entertainment…Edutainment!

To Copy or Create?

I’m a New Teacher, Help!

Part II – How to Teach ESL English

Teaching ESL

ESL English

How to Teach ESL English

Teaching ESL Classes

New ESL Students

Teaching ESL Grammar

You’re an ESL Teacher, Not a Jackass!

Part III – Extra Aspects of Teaching ESL

Reading Classes

Students and Homework

Presentation Classes

ESL Professional Development

Part IV – Life in China

Living in Shenzhen

Weather in China

Holidays in China

Supermarkets in China

Transportation in China

Restaurants in China

Banquets in China

Part V – Teaching in China

ESL Jobs

Places to Teach in China

Part VI – Teaching with CTLC in Public Schools

The Benefits of CTLC

The Drawbacks of CTLC

The Living Conditions in Dorms

The Living Conditions in Apartments

The CTLC Classroom

Ending Your CTLC Contract

Part VII – Teaching with EF in Training Centers

Teaching English at Training Centers

Teaching English in China with EF

The Hierarchy of EF

Kids Schools vs. Adult Schools

Conditions at EF Schools

Conditions in EF Classrooms

Holidays at EF

EF’s Administrative Nonsense

The Extra Workload at EF

The Management at EF

My Conclusions on EF

Part VIII – Teaching as a Tutor in China

The Best Teaching Job in China

How Do You Tutor?

Teaching One-on-One VIPs

Part IX – Teaching in Chinese Kindergartens

The Good

The Bad

The Ugly

Conclusion

This ESL Book is Controversial

A medium-sized CTLC class, just 34 students

I focus on what it’s like living in China and what you can expect when you get there.

I also talk a lot about how you teach English in China. Teaching English in China isn’t like what you were taught back in university. In fact, teaching ESL English is a whole different ball game. That’s why this book is a great thing for anyone heading over to China in the coming months. I’m not going to lie to you – most public schools and nearly all of the training centers in China don’t want me to tell you what I do in this book. It’s one of the reasons I have poor reviews for this book – attack dogs must be sent out to keep these companies’ “stellar” reputations intact. What a load of rubbish! And that’s why I wrote this book. It tells you things that work and things that don’t. I’ve written it so right when you get to China you can have an accurate picture of what teaching’s like, not some fanciful notion (sorry, lies) that you’ll be spoon-fed in anticipation that you don’t know any better. Well, you do know better, or at least should – you can buy this book, after all, and it’s got the complete rundown on the massive loads of BS you’ll have to put up with on a daily basis. When I first came to China to teach in 2008 I didn’t know what to expect. The training I received was wholly inadequate to the task, and I struggled for a long time. This cost me dearly when I was on my own, and for months and months I struggled and wondered why on earth I’d left America. When I finally got the courage up to change employers I didn’t know a whole lot about how to go about it. I had to search and search, and it was frustrating and nerve-wracking. And I quickly found out that conditions weren’t much better and the pay not quite up to par with what I had to put up with.

English Isn’t the Most Important Thing

Yeah, headaches

I hope some of my experiences teaching English in China can help you, and if you have had a similar time in China, you’ll probably like a lot of what this book has to say, and will be able to identify with it easily. So if you’re in the Middle Kingdom already, are planning to, or just want to read about it, pick up your copy of English Last today! The reason the book is called “English Last” is because that’s how I felt that English was prioritized by the time I left China. The attitude I saw employers take was really focused on money and not so much on how much the students were learning. This is especially true at training centers. Too many times students are moved up into classes they can’t handle just because their parents threaten to stop paying if they’re not. Too many times I’ve seen students disrupt class so much that other students can’t learn. The reason for this: schools want the money, they don’t care if the student behavior is bad or they can’t keep up with the lessons. CTLC isn’t much better. The China Program now charges $2,200 to get you to China. Folks, there are tons of companies that will pay your way just to get you over there. They’re desperate for teachers! It’s your market, not theirs! What’s more, CTLC gets an extra $250 out of a language course that meets twice a week and which doesn’t really care about you. Oh, and if you don’t want to go, you’re not getting that money back. Nice profit for CTLC after the Shenzhen University adjutant professors are paid their measly sum, huh? I’m anti-CTLC…I ain’t gonna lie! Those two years were a waste for me, and while it’s true I did learn some things and improve myself, that was largely in spite of CTLC. I know the vast majority of you reading this will feel the same when you finish with CTLC…if you do. Yeah, a lot of people do not finish their contracts, and I urge you not to either. You’ll make a lot more money when you switch to a private training center after the Chinese New Year Holiday. And don’t think that training centers are a lot better. Sure, you’ll get paid about 5,000 RMB a month more, but you’ll work more too. But when you get into that class with 40 to 50 students that CTLC forces you to work with then you will know what I’m talking about. Not once during my darkest days at EF did I think having 50 kids would be preferable to the massive amounts of administrative bullshit EF forced upon me each day. So what does this mean for you, the teacher already in China or holding a paid-for plane ticket to the Middle Kingdom? It means you’ve bought the ticket so you’re taking the ride. Good luck! I did it, so can you, and I suggest you buy this book English Last so you can get the full picture. And after that buy Teaching Abroad so you can figure out how to put your life back together after CTLC profits off you for a year or two.

Yeah, I know Google+ isn’t as flashy as Facebook and perhaps not even as well-known as Twitter. But what makes it so special is that you’ll be able to use it in China, especially if you’re living close to Hong Kong, like I was when I was teaching ESL in Shenzhen. What am I talking about? Well, for all you teachers in Korea, Thailand, Europe and even America (yes, I get emails from ESL teachers in America) this might not make sense. See, you all teach in countries where Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are allowed. But that’s just not the case in China. China is very afraid its people will use social media to rise up and overthrow the government. This isn’t really that farfetched, at least not if you know anything about Chinese history. After all, it’s always been the people that rise up and overthrow the government! So what does that mean for you, an ESL teacher heading to China? It means all those wondrous social media thingamajigs will be completely worthless to you with out a VPN. And even with a VPN you might not get the service you expect. So that’s why I urge you to join my Google+ ESL group. I post to that group daily, and these are some of the things I put up:

Links to my Blog Posts;

ESL Teacher Videos;

Helpful Links to Other ESL Articles;

Links to Useful ESL Game Sites;

Inspirational Pictures;

Thoughts on Teaching;

Silly Videos Students Like;

Old Songs I Listen To;

Ideas to Stay Motivated.

There’s a lot more than that, but that’s the gist of it. I also encourage you to put your thoughts and ideas down, or just a link to something you like. Hell, throw up a picture of you teaching or something from your new city’s newspaper! Mainly, though, it’s a good spot to get free ideas and resources that will work in your class. And with Google+ you should be alright if you’re joining CTLC. After all, your internet connection is about to get real spotty! Good luck, and thanks for sharing!

Now, I don’t remember seeing that, so it must have gotten deleted when I was really busy that day. Typically I get anywhere from 100 to 300 emails a day now because of the writing business I do for people all over the world. I must have just deleted this one. Anyways, I think it goes to show that you should be careful, and that’s my purpose: to warn you and give you information from someone who has been through the program not once, but twice.

My CTLC dorm room. This desk was where I spent most of my time while not teaching. I’d watch movies, read books, and drink beer. Trust me…get out more!

CTLC is a great company for getting you over to China, don’t get me wrong. But if you want to do a little internet footwork you can get yourself a much better deal. When I went over there they had about 100 teachers that year, in 2008-9. This year they’ll have close to 200. I know their salaries have increased from the 5,000 RMB I got each month to the around 9,000 RMB you’ll get each month. I know this because I recently talked to someone from the program. Still, if I was starting at an English training center I’d be making 12,000 to 14,000 RMB a month. What is all of this in American dollars? Well, I got paid $800 my first year and $960 my second year. That was my monthly salary. Compare that to the $1,450 you get working for CTLC now, as well as the $1,930 to $2,250 you’d get a month if you worked for a training center. What are some good training centers? I’ve got a whole list of them in my book English Last, a whole section in fact. My point is, you can make more money elsewhere, but that also means you have to work harder. Trust me though – anything is better than 50 kids in a class. Many of you reading this right now won’t make it through your first year. I bet the dropout rate is close to 25% now, if not higher. I have no idea, but I’m sure there are fewer people going all year than when I was doing it. It’s just that the support you receive from your school and CTLC is nonexistent.

There are just 18 students in this picture, but this classroom had about 40 at any given time. In China boys always wear blue uniforms while girls wear white. Monday is Flag Raising Ceremony so they wear dress clothes that day.

Is it their fault? I’m not sure. No one has been able to figure out how to make Chinese children behave. No one. I could make $1 million overnight if I came up with the formula or secret code. But there are things they could do to make your experience better, unfortunately with their insistence upon classes of 50 students this is just a joke at best and impossible at worst. So when I get silly, nameless trolling comments like that joker I’m glad I “accidently” delete them. Anyone visiting this site can tell at a glance that there’s a ton of useful information here, most of it for free. I sure hope any CTLC teachers going over there will email me and tell me how they feel. I’ll give you advice and answer any questions you have.Also... I love to write posts that help teachers, so if you have any questions about CTLC in China or teaching ESL in China that you want to say in front of everyone, the comments are open.

I’ve no doubt that you’re an ESL teacher just trying to keep your sanity this summer. But you know what? I should have doubt, for there are a lot of other people that stumble in here from time to time. Case in point is an email I got today from Stephanie, someone who teaches her own children at home. She told me her daughter found this site and that she enjoyed the ESL Links page. I created that page several years ago now when I was still a teacher in Shenzhen. We had it in our office computer files but no one ever looked at it. Well, now it’s helping a lot of people find fun and interesting ESL games to play, language quizzes to take, and grammar notes to memorize. Yeah, it’s not all fun, there’s some work there too. But overall you’ll find lots of good links. And today I’m throwing up a new one called An ESL Resource Guide for Students from a company called Five9. This awesome website landing page has tons of helpful ESL links. Here are some highlights: If you have one-one-one students I know you’ll like some of the simple quizzes offered; If you’ve got naughty students the grammar worksheets will quiet them down; If you’re working on speaking and pronunciation the listening pages will treat you fine. So all of those things are there for you to use, print out for class, or just look through for ideas. Best of all, it’s free! So good luck, and remember, summer is nearly halfway over.